It’s (almost) another Sasky Brier time.

The 100th anniversary of the first Brier – the Canadian men’s curling championship – will be held in Saskatoon from Feb. 26 to March 7 in 2027.

I liked the quote from Nolan Thiessen issued with today’s news conference at the SaskTel Centre: “The Montana’s Brier is the epitome of Canadiana,” he said. “What started as a modest event of goodwill and celebration of the sport of curling has evolved into one of the most recognizable properties in Canadian sport.”

Curling Canada’s chief exec certainly knows about the Brier. He’s played in five, won three trophies, and finished runner-up, too. 

The latter happened in 2012, at the last of six previous Saskatoon Briers. Glenn Howard reunited with Wayne Middaugh to win that one.

That Brier also featured a young Brad Jacobs (and the Harnden brothers), crazy Sasky fans – remember those full-body morphsuits? – and a mid-week blizzard. TCN Senior Columnist Kevin Palmer (not so senior at the time) was there but stayed in his hotel room for a snow-plagued draw, and the resulting story eventually won Curling Canada’s Scotty Harper Award for the best curling story of 2012. 

The yarn touched on everything from alternate players and statistics to an “underground prison for rogue curlers” and a Judd Apatow comedy “that should have ended 20 minutes earlier.”

To transport yourself back to a different curling time – with more great pics from our own Anil Mungal –click here.

Some of Saskatoon’s other Briers have achieved legendary status over the years.

The 1965 shootout was won by a 25-year-old Terry Braunstein of Manitoba, which may have eventually led to his lead player, Ray Turnbull, becoming a 25-year TV analyst for TSN.

The 1989 Brier, captured by Pat “Ryan’s Express” in a lowest-ever championship scoreline of 3-2, directly led to the creation of the Free Guard Zone.

The 2000 Brier, won by B.C.’s Greg McAulay, was played in the shadow of Sandra Schmirler’s death. Her funeral was held in Regina on Brier Monday and the afternoon draw was adjusted so fans in the arena could watch the nationally-televised service.

The 2004 Brier was to be Team Randy Ferbey’s ultimate coronation as they chased a remarkable fourth title in a row. However, the previous year’s finalists had other plans. Nova Scotia’s Mark Dacey almost waited too long, but scored two late three-enders on the Albertans to capture the trophy 10-9 and stun the curling world.

Thiessen also declared the “100th anniversary of the first Brier is going to be a special celebration of our past, present and future.”

Okay guys, that means you need to fly in some former champions and make a real spectacle of it. And you might need to properly celebrate that history with an opening ceremony, which you haven’t offered for a few years now.

Let’s go!